Lu Lin asked Wan Tie's wife, Yun Niang, to come forward and recruit female workers in the town who knew how to embroider.
Lu Lin offered 25 coins a day and quickly found workers. In this era, many people wanted to work but couldn't find any.
With the busy farming season over, the daily wage of 25 yuan is still very attractive.
After Yunniang hired about ten people, some people still came to inquire about whether she needed more people. When they found out that she didn't need any more, many people were very disappointed.
Yunniang's craftsmanship was quite good, so she was responsible for the final assembly of some of the more complex bags.
Lu Lin noticed that Wan Tie's family was somewhat unusual. Wan Tie seemed to be a worldly person, and Yun Niang should have been quite beautiful, but a scar on her face ruined her pretty appearance.
Their child, Wan Xiaofan, was very thin and looked timid and somewhat afraid of people.
Lu Lin happened to see a scar on Wan Xiaofan's arm, which looked like a burn, but he didn't know how it was caused.
Wan Tie and Yun Niang both seemed to cherish the child very much. When they spoke to Wan Xiaofan, they spoke very softly and patiently, as if they were afraid of scaring him.
Lu Lin bought the Wan Tie family's property, so naturally he had to ask the broker about their situation.
As far as he knew, Wan Tie's family were servants, and Wan Tie's parents were also servants. Yun Niang was originally a dowry maid in a wealthy family. She may have offended the lady of the house and had her face slashed. Then she was betrothed to Wan Tie.
In this era, maids had a very low status. When they were young, they worked at home, but when they got older, they were often sold off.
When maids are sold, they are usually not young, so they can't be sold to good families.
Many maids dreamed of being taken in as concubines by the master or young master of the household. However, even if they became concubines, their status was still very low.
Lu Lin took Xiao Cai and Xiao Mai from him. Xiao Mai was a little curious about Wan Xiao Fan. Xiao Mai usually interacted with children older than him, so he was very curious and happy to suddenly meet someone younger than him.
Wan Xiaofan seemed very afraid of Xiaomai. Sometimes when Xiaomai grabbed him, he would freeze and dare not move.
At first, Lu Lin thought that Wan Xiaofan might be naturally afraid of people. Later, he guessed that Wan Xiaofan might have been hurt by his peers.
Lu Lin secretly guessed that the scars on Wan Xiaofan's arm were caused by the child.
Xiaomai is actually a kind-hearted person. Sometimes, she even shares her snacks with Wan Xiaofan. However, Wan Xiaofan never dares to eat them, which greatly disappoints Xiaomai.
Lu Lin entrusted Yunniang with the management of the several embroiderers hired by the Lu family. The embroiderers were quite honest and worked very hard, probably because they were afraid of losing their jobs.
Lu Lin and Chen Xiaomi lived in the east wing, Chen Xiaocai and Chen Xiaomi lived in the west wing, and the main room was empty.
Wan Tie and Yun Niang lived in the servants' quarters. The Lu family had a relatively small population, with a total of three servants' quarters.
"Master, look at these two owners, what's wrong with them?" Yunniang found Lu Lin and Chen Xiaomi, who bought her, extremely strange.
Wan Tie sighed and said, "Just do your job well."
Wan Tie's father was a servant, born into a servant family. The master's temper wasn't very good, so Wan Tie had to learn to read people's expressions from a young age. Wan Tie was quite skilled, and gradually rose to the position of manager. Although he was still a servant, he was doing quite well.
Yunniang was originally a maidservant who came with the First Madam as part of her dowry. Wan Tie had a good impression of Yunniang, but unfortunately, the eldest young master took a liking to her. Out of jealousy, the First Madam disfigured Yunniang's face. Once Yunniang's face was disfigured, the eldest young master lost interest, and the First Madam went along with it and betrothed Yunniang to Wan Tie.
Although Yunniang's face was disfigured, for a servant like Wan Tie, finding a wife was already difficult enough, and he was fortunate to have married Yunniang. After their marriage, Wan Tie and Yunniang had a son, Wan Xiaofan. Life was initially quite good, but after the eldest son's concubine gave birth to a son born out of wedlock, the youngest son born to the first wife was no longer valued.
The young master, perhaps instigated by someone, found fault with Wan Xiaofan in every way. He recruited Wan Xiaofan to be his page and constantly beat and scolded him, almost killing him several times.
Even if a servant who has signed a contract of servitude is beaten to death, the government will not care as long as money is spent to bribe officials.
Wan Tie couldn't bear to see his son suffer like this, so he disobeyed the young master, which angered the madam, who then sold the entire family of three.
Yunniang glanced at Wan Xiaofan, somewhat worried about her son.
Wan Xiaofan had been bullied for the past two years, and his mental state was starting to deteriorate. Yunniang felt very guilty towards her son.
Yunniang was once the First Madam's dowry maid. The one who bullied Wan Xiaofan was the First Madam's son. Yunniang guessed that the young master's bullying of her son was partly due to her.
She was sent as a maidservant to the lady of the house. Not long after she entered the house, the young master took an interest in her. Out of jealousy, the young lady slashed her face. Seeing that she was disfigured, the young master no longer cared about her.
The eldest son was not a devoted man. Not long after his marriage, he brought in one concubine after another. When the young lady was unhappy, he would take his anger out on her.
Two years ago, the eldest son married a concubine named Lin, who was born in a brothel, was charming, affectionate, and understanding, and was very much loved by her.
After Aunt Lin entered the household, rumors began to circulate that the First Madam was vicious, and the fact that she had been disfigured was also brought up, damaging the First Madam's reputation and making her life even more difficult.
After the family was sold, they lived a life of constant displacement. The slave trader didn't care about their lives at all, only giving them half a steamed bun a day to make sure they didn't starve.
Wan Tie said with some surprise, "The bag that Young Master Lu made is really amazing."
Yunniang was in charge of the final integration work, and Wan Tie had also seen the final product of the schoolbag. Wan Tie used to be a steward in a wealthy family and was considered a well-traveled person, but he had never seen such a magical bag before.
Yunniang nodded and said, "This bag should be popular with students."
After stockpiling a batch of various bags, Lu Lin took some out to sell in the trading company.
In ancient times, people always needed a process to accept new things. After the schoolbags were hung out, no one knew their purpose, and few people bought them. In order to open up sales channels, Lu Lin gave several to the Yang family for free.
The Yang family was one of the wealthiest households in the town, and the things they owned easily became a trendsetter for others.
When the two children from the Yang family arrived at the school with their schoolbags, they immediately caused a sensation.
"Yang Teng, your bag is so pretty!"
As soon as Yang Teng and Yang Miao appeared at the academy, they were surrounded by several students.
Several schoolchildren gathered around the two boys' schoolbags, looking at them with curiosity, which made Yang Teng and Yang Miao feel a little smug.
"This bag is called a schoolbag. It can hold a lot of books, and it has compartments inside. There's a drawstring here, so you can just pull the drawstring up and tie it up. It's very convenient." Yang Teng had been playing with the schoolbag at home for a long time after he got it, and now he was taking it out to show it off.
"There are two shoulder straps here, so you can wear it on your back."
Yang Teng was showing off his backpack, which drew admiring glances from several students.
The beautiful wooden pendant on the backpack is also very eye-catching.
Several students were extremely envious. Upon learning that the backpack was sold in a nearby shop, they all decided that they would go to the shop to buy one after school.
Lu Lin gave the Yang family two schoolbags, which immediately became a sensation in the academy.
Children are just as competitive as adults. Several children from wealthy families saw the schoolbags carried by the two young children from the Yang family and followed them to Lu Lin's business that very day.
Within a few days, nearly half of the students in the academy were carrying backpacks.
Standing at the school gate, you can see a group of teenagers going to school, carrying their schoolbags, walking by with high spirits and great ambition.
A few days later, almost every student in the academy had a backpack.
The cheapest schoolbags sold in the shops cost only one hundred coins each, while the more expensive ones cost one tael of silver.
Expensive backpacks use better quality fabric.
Lu Lin also found a few carpenters to make some exquisite pendants, which were strung together with rope and hung on the bag as decorations.
While the level of machinery in this era was somewhat backward, there were still many skilled craftsmen. Some carpenters made exquisite wooden hairpins, and naturally, they could easily make some delicate pendants.
The bags sold in the store were very popular, and almost every student in the nearby college had one.
To Lu Lin's surprise, Wan Tie, whom he bought, was literate. Although he didn't know many words, he could do some arithmetic. So Lu Lin sent Wan Tie to the trading company to be the store manager.
Many villagers were studying at the county school, and Lu Lin's shop was close to the academy. Lu Lin didn't want to attract too much attention, at least not for the time being. Therefore, he handed over some public appearances to Wan Tie, who, after all, had been a manager before and did a very good job.
When Lu Chengyu returned to the academy, he saw that many of his classmates were carrying backpacks.
Lu Chengyu thought about buying one after school.
Although the Lu family has been a bit tight on money lately, the old lady still favors Lu Lin. Knowing that Lu Lin is going back to the county school, she was afraid that he would be looked down upon by his classmates, so she gave him three hundred coins.
Lu Chengyu failed the imperial examination and was depressed for a while. He used the excuse of getting married to hide at home.
Recently, the conflict between Wang and Tang and Li Fangyue has gradually intensified, and there are frequent quarrels at home.
Li Fangyue was scolded, so she went to Lu Chengyu to cry and complain.
Lu Chengyu was somewhat dissatisfied with his wife, who was of average appearance, but out of consideration for his wife's family, he had to keep up the pretense.
The situation at home continued to escalate, and Lu Chengyu was so annoyed by the noise that she decided to escape.
Lu Chengyu was also very interested in the new schoolbags in the students' hands. When he learned that the best quality schoolbags cost more than one tael of silver, Lu Chengyu couldn't help but feel embarrassed about his empty pockets.
After school, Lu Chengyu and several classmates went to Huaxia Trading Company, owned by Lu Lin.
Upon entering the shop, Lu Chengyu saw many schoolbags hanging in the store, each with a price tag. There were various grades of schoolbags available. Although Lu Chengyu felt that selling a bag made of a few pieces of cloth for several hundred coins, or even more than one tael of silver, was robbery, he still paid for one.
“I don’t think this Huaxia Trading Company existed before!” Lu Chengyu said.
"The trading company used to sell general merchandise, but it seems to have changed owners recently."
"It is said that the original owner of the business went to another place and sold the business along with the house behind it."
"This business and residence must cost a lot of money," Lu Chengyu said.
"That's right, I heard it costs more than two hundred taels."
Who are the people who bought the house?
"The host family is quite low-key."
Looking at the shop's signboard, Lu Chengyu felt a pang of jealousy. The Lu family had been struggling financially lately because of his wedding, and hearing that someone had casually spent over two hundred taels to buy a shop and a store, Lu Chengyu was immediately filled with resentment towards the rich.
Lu Chengyu envied the merchant's owner's wealth and power, but he never expected that the owner of this merchant would be Lu Lin, whom he had always looked down upon.
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